Owners have filed 10 complaints
about the 2022 Harley-Davidson RA1250S with NHTSA between 2024 and 2026.
The largest single group is the electrical system.
Across this model's run it ranks 3 of 3 worst.
The letter says how bad. This says what kind — whether this year drew
an unusual number of complaints, unusually dangerous
ones, or failures that arrived unusually early.
The dashed ring is 50 — the national norm. Further out is worse.
Complaint volume — 37
Against the median year of the Harley-Davidson RA1250S. 50 means typical for this
model; 100 means roughly double.
Severity — 0
0% of these complaints
involved a crash, fire, injury or death, against a national rate of
9.7%.
Early failure — not reported
Too few complaints recorded a mileage to measure this.
How 2022 compares with every other Harley-Davidson RA1250S
Complaints filed with NHTSA, by model year. Bar colour is the FaultScore grade:
A
B
C
D
F
ungraded
What breaks on a 2022 Harley-Davidson RA1250S
Every complaint is filed against a part. Follow any row for the complaints about that part alone.
Electrical System
660.0%
Engine & Cooling
330.0%
Fuel & Propulsion
110.0%
When owners complained
A spike years after the car went on sale usually means a part wearing
out on schedule across the whole fleet — the kind of pattern no single
owner can see from inside their own car.
Apr 2024peak 2May 2026
The most recent complaints
In the owners' own words, exactly as filed with NHTSA.
Croswell, MI
ENGINE
From my own diagnostics, as a licensed Master Motorcycle Mechanic, in the State of [XXX] , I believe the rear cylinder cam chain guide shroud shoulder bolt backed out of the threading in the engine casing, causing the shroud to fall into the primary gears, which caused a loss of cam chain tension and the engine jumped time. This caused a loss of engine power and the motorcycle engine stalled as I was riding down the road. Luckily it was a backroad with no other vehicles traveling it at the time or else I could have been struck by another vehicle, causing serious injury to myself and other motorists, not to mention the property damages. When the incident occurred the Check Engine light came on and, upon checking the on board diagnostics display, the motorcycle displayed numerous fault codes, P001800C, P001900C, P034600C, P039100C, P110000C. The motorcycle was sent to Motown Harley for diagnostics and repairs under warranty. They diagnosed the issue as a failed rear cylinder cam chain tensioner, which allowed the engine to jump time and which caused internal damage to the pistons, valves and flywheel. The replaced the entire engine/ power plant assembly under warranty. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11737973 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
San Francisco, CA
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Motorcycle died without warning and would not restart. Turned out to be a faulty Right Hand Control Module which is a known issue with the 2021-2023 model and the part has been updated to a newer part.
NHTSA complaint #11734622 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Clearwater, FL
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Fourth time this has happened to me. Driving 65 mph on interstate 4, accidentally turned off the motorcycle. Scared the piss out of me in all that traffic when bike shut off and was slowing down.
NHTSA complaint #11708949 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Clearwater, FL
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I have been operating this motorcycle for 11 months. THREE times, I have accidentally turned the engine off while in city traffic. The on/off switch has a lever which extends too close to the throttle. When wearing gloves it is way too easy to accidentally turn the motorcycle off. The engine stops instantly; tail light, brake light, and, headlight will remain on for another 5 seconds or so.
NHTSA complaint #11697947 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Newville, PA
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Stator cuts out intermittently causing vehicle to stall while riding. This poses a saftey rish especially while on thw interstate. This is a known issue with the Pan America models 21 through 23. They updated the stator for the 24 model on and no longer make the old style stator. A repair now costs $5000.00 if not under warranty. If you have a extended service contract through Harley they wont cover it due to being considered upgraded parts. This malfunctuon has happened to me twice and both times the dealer was unable to diagnose the issue. Harley Davidson needs to recall this part.
NHTSA complaint #11678066 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Irmo, SC
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Fuel tank and pump were not made to be used with ethanol, which is in almost all available gas in the USA. The fuel pump and tank erode rapidly due to their material reaction to the ethanol. Fuel pump screams loudly on startup and begins to fail pulling fuel to the engine, mileage may vary. Tank corrodes on the inside which speeds up this process.
NHTSA complaint #11669092 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Kenosha, WI
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Charging system failed causing complete shutdown of motorcycle in traffic. This is a known issue of pre 2024 models as evidenced by internal harley memos.
NHTSA complaint #11659958 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Kenosha, WI
ENGINE
Charging system failed causing complete shutdown of motorcycle in traffic. This is a known issue of pre 2024 models as evidenced by internal harley memos.
NHTSA complaint #11659958 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Houston, TX
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The vehicle engine shuts down at highway speed. The dealer has made three attempts to correct this issue, but it has not been successfully corrected. While operating the vehicle, the engine simply turns off. I demanded to see the engine codes and found the motorcycle's run circuit malfunctions causing the engine to turn off. I was told by the dealer's lead mechanic at the dealer that any electrical issue with any part of the vehicle would cause the entire system to shut down. This has happened on multiple occasions very nearly leading to my death in each instance. Based on my discussions with the dealer mechanics, every vehicle of this model from this year will experience this issue as it ages endangering the life of anyone riding one of these vehicles. This issue has occurred multiple times as early as 4,300 miles withing the first 3 months of ownership and as recent as this month with 16,000 miles on the odometer. The dealer has not been able to find the exact cause and has told me that this is just how the electrical system on this vehicle works. Two dealers have falsely represented that the issue has been repaired by "patching the software" but another dealer tech informed me there is no fix, if a wire shorts out or a turn signal burns out or anything electrical happens, the entire electrical system with short out, turn off and try to restart the onboard electronics, instantly cutting off the engine. Please note that I have researched this issue and found that other manufactures either have a system of fuses or a redundant "limp mode" system to prevent life threating cascade failures. This vehicle has no such safety system. Any electrical issue results in total shutdown of all systems.
NHTSA complaint #11585431 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Houston, TX
ENGINE
The vehicle engine shuts down at highway speed. The dealer has made three attempts to correct this issue, but it has not been successfully corrected. While operating the vehicle, the engine simply turns off. I demanded to see the engine codes and found the motorcycle's run circuit malfunctions causing the engine to turn off. I was told by the dealer's lead mechanic at the dealer that any electrical issue with any part of the vehicle would cause the entire system to shut down. This has happened on multiple occasions very nearly leading to my death in each instance. Based on my discussions with the dealer mechanics, every vehicle of this model from this year will experience this issue as it ages endangering the life of anyone riding one of these vehicles. This issue has occurred multiple times as early as 4,300 miles withing the first 3 months of ownership and as recent as this month with 16,000 miles on the odometer. The dealer has not been able to find the exact cause and has told me that this is just how the electrical system on this vehicle works. Two dealers have falsely represented that the issue has been repaired by "patching the software" but another dealer tech informed me there is no fix, if a wire shorts out or a turn signal burns out or anything electrical happens, the entire electrical system with short out, turn off and try to restart the onboard electronics, instantly cutting off the engine. Please note that I have researched this issue and found that other manufactures either have a system of fuses or a redundant "limp mode" system to prevent life threating cascade failures. This vehicle has no such safety system. Any electrical issue results in total shutdown of all systems.
NHTSA complaint #11585431 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.